Chapter 5: What's inside and outside

…There is a beautiful sky out this evening

"We made it" The three words that keep chanting in my mind

Can we just start this thing before I have a breakdown?!

The two inklings floated high, deep into the sea of black as the faint lights of stars and blurry moon shined down on them from high above, Aster smiled as he looked down on Inkopolis, his whole body seemed to be just as riled up as his emotions displayed him to be "I don't think I could have asked for any place else."

Kyounix looked over to him without much understanding about his statement "Huh? Whadya mean?"

"Just look at all this! Don't you see all the inklings down their? So many people to challenge! So many elites to learn from!" Asters body jittered around with even more energy pulsing through his body, setting the ink inside him to swirl around

"Just! So many possibilities! Who even knows if they end? You can't tell me you don't feel that rush!" Aster turned to Kyounix as Kyounix looked back at him with bland wonder on his face and deep in his eyes "Wow… you're really that excited, huh? I can feel something but I think that's just your passion screaming out at me!" Kyounix laughed as he talked and Aster joined as well

"Probably so-" but the words were sucked straight out of Asters mouth as he and Kyounix started to rapidly descend towards the ground "WOOAAHHH!~ What's going on?" but Kyounix continued giggling to himself

"Were landing, Aster! Just hold onto something and prepare for impact!" Aster wasn't too sure if Kyounix was taunting him by laughing or if he was just lost, he was sure of one thing though "Grab onto what?!Kyounix!" but the Inkling boy just kept laughing

"KYOU-" with a thud two squids fell into Inkopolis, one got up easily as he shook excess ink of his clothes and body, the other one however laid in the ink, no longer jumping with joy but shaking with fear

Kyounix finished laughing and looked down at Aster "You're hilarious Aster! Come on now, get up! Were in Inkopolis~" the squid however didn't move, it didn't even blink, it just stared at the sky and deep into the stars with the scar of never forgetting those past moment "K-Kyounix?" aster said in a shaky voice "Yeah, buddy?"

"That jump thing? That thing we just did? Yeah, two words: Never. Again."

After getting situated the two Inklings stood upon the city grounds, staring over the bobbing and moving heads of others Inklings and the stores they hung around, once in particular caught Asters eyes "Ammo Knights? I wonder…" he started walking to the building with Kyounix by his side, still gazing around

"This place is sweet! I'm kinda surprised I've never really heard much of it before" Aster pointed to the tower "Well, Inkopolis is the main hub for turf war so it is understandable on how you didn't exactly know too much on this city, you said you weren't that interested until… well, now right?"

Kyounix shook his head "Well, Duh! I knew that much! I just didn't know about all of this other stuff. Inkopolis is mostly known for its turf war, if you don't know that then maybe you should get some TV under that rock or something" Aster laughed faintly, it was obviously fake

"Yeah… living under a rock" he grunted, how had he not know about this place? He didn't think he was dense or anything, or at least he thought he wasn't

They approached the store but it was closed, actually, all of the stores on the strip were "Huh, were that late? Do you have the time Kyounix" "Its 8:58. Not to late but I also guess it's not that early"

Aster sighed and dropped his head onto the store "But I guess it's late enough" he moved his head over to the right and looked through the door of the store "And I was right, great." Kyounix looked in as well

The table and walls had all different forms of weapons laid around, there was no doubt that this was a turf war weapon store "Oh! You don't already have your own weapon?" Aster shook his head, he also stood back to being straight up

"Nope, that's why this place caught my eye. It's called "Ammo Knights" after all so the name fits the bill enough, you know?" "Yea, I get what you're saying." They kept looking at the store for a bit until Aster remembered what he came here for, he might not be able to participate in it but he can at least see what it's really like

"Oh well, we'll be back here tomorrow, you can count on that" he stretched out a bit and pointed over to the tower "Why don't we head for main event?" Kyounix smiled "So that it, huh?" Aster started walking towards the tower with Kyounix following behind him slightly "It sure is, where we are gonna duke it out with everyone!" Aster cheered into the sky

The two walked into the tower and watched as neon colors swirled around them on a black surface, Lime green, turquoise, yellow and many other colors were swimming around them on a led lit cylinder, encasing them in awe and amusement

"Um, excuse me?" a welcoming voice called over Aster and Kyounix before they got a chance to say anything themselves, they walked over still dragging their eyes around the lobby "I think I'm in love." Aster said, eyes wide and lost in the tower, Kyounix giggled next to him and then brought his attention to the Inkling who had called them over

"I can already tell that you two are new here" the attendant said softly laughing under their voice, it was obviously a female at this point, her voice came out much too soft to compare to a male Inklings and her hair ran down her back, longer than Kyounix's by at least a foot

Aster, now paying attention to the female Inkling nodded along with Kyounix "Yup! We just got in today!" Aster said grinning at the attendant "That's wonderful, Then I am glad to welcoming you the center point of Inkopolis, Inkopolis Tower, the central hub of Turf War!" for a mere second the rooms seemed to light up a bit more, sending the colors soaring through the air around everyone and causing Aster to slightly look over at them "Now before either of you enter a turf war there are a couple of rules and guidelines you both need to know"

At that Aster and Kyounix seemed to both lock onto the attendant "For starters I don't see that either of you have any sort of weapon with you, did you all check down with Ammo Knights for one?" Aster shook his head in agreement "Yes actually! But like before we just got here so by the time we went down there the store was already closed" the attendant nodded "Ok, As I'm sure you know you will not be able to go into a battle unless you have a weapon of your own or barrow one from a friend before the battle begins"

Kyounix looked over at Aster "That kinda helpful! Don't ya think so?" Kyounix said "Yeah, especially if we want to test others weapons out and see if we like them!" the concept seemed to grab both of their attention, it also seemed to make the attendant slightly pleased

"Now this second part is VERY important, while having fun in Turf War is a major key of battling, so is making sure everything is running properly form the match to the weapon you choose in battle, assuring that nothing will go wrong" the attendant pulled out what seemed to be a model of a Splattershot, cut in half to show the internal features it holds

She started to explain how to clean Inktanks and what the pumps and tubes properly belong to so they would have to know when to replace a broke and malfunctioned piece easily without breaking the whole system. She went on for quite a bit, Kyounix seemed to be interested in every single thing she said, Aster was listening but just not as interested on the subject as Kyounix, something else in the gun caught his eye, it was a multicolored techy film that was logged safely in the gun.

"And that's about it for repairing and cleaning your weapon! Any questions?" Kyounix just observed "Wow… I didn't know how in detail the guns were made!" he said "No only the guns are made like this, Rollers and Chargers have different parts themselves, We just use the splatter shot since it has nearly every other important piece of every other weapon. Also, it's very easy to understand."

Aster pointed to the chip inside the gun "And what is this piece for?" Kyounix looked at the piece as well "Yeah! I was gonna ask about that to!" the attendant looked down at it "Oh… that's…" she thought up in her mind "It's… not exactly something important and really doesn't pertain to how the gun works but DON'T BOTHER IT. If you are doing work on your gun then always make sure to put it back if you even have to take it back"

Aster looked up at the attendant and laughed "Sounds pretty important if you ask me!" the attendant started to laugh along with him "Well, I guess it is quite important now that I think about it. Nobody ever seems to bother it though so I don't ever have to say much on it. Please just make sure not to mess around with it too much though. If it breaks immediately head down to Sheldon and ask for a new one to replace the old chip, Can you promise me that?"

Aster and Kyounix were both caught off guard at the statement, a promise? About what he assumed was their own safety? "Of course! Why wouldn't we replace it, right Aster?" Kyounix had replied before he had a chance to think it all over "Ye-yeah! Of course… why wouldn't we." Something felt safe but wrong about the situation

"Thank you two." Her voice sounded calmed "And the last and final thing that's left is… to have fun! Just follow the rest of the games corresponding rules and you guys will be ready to fight and claim your place in the high ranks in no time!" Aster forgot about the whole entire chip thing, he smiled and excitement grew deep in him once more, Kyounix however was at the edge of losing himself again, much more excited than Aster had even been about the whole ordeal

"That wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be, thank you Ma'a-" but the attendant waggled her finger in front of his face "Nope, you don't have to call me ma'am, just call me Ruzi! Everyone knows me by that and calls me by it, I doubt I'm even old enough for a title"

Taking a second look at the attendant made Aster wonder how old she actually was, she really didn't look too much older than him or Kyounix "Then thanks Ruzi! I do have one question though!" this time it was Kyounix thank her "And what may that be?"

Kyounix smiled "Can we arrange wedding here? I was hoping that Aster could marry the tow-" Aster blasted through Kyounix's statement "KYOUNIX! That's not what I meant by when I was in love!" Ruzi thought it over and nodded back him "I'm sure we could arrange something for marrying the tower, you might want to take them out on a date first, though" Aster turned to Ruzi "Wha… what?" Kyounix and Ruzi winked at each other over Aster, he sighed

And the sigh seemed to grow into laughter, Ruzi and Kyounix joined in before Aster even noticed, they had a good laugh until a loud voice rocketed through the whole lobby, screens lit up all around them as well "ZONE ALERT!" it took all of them by surprise as they all snapped towards the screen and tried to figure out what was about to happen, except for Ruzi, of course

Sirens played off from the TV "What's up all you little Inkling Boys and Girls? Tonight in this final turf war we are going to be looking at one of the most known and competitive Turf War fighters out there, Drez!"

On the screen a camera followed an Inkling, weaving and bobbing about to dodge all the Incoming blobs of ink until in an instant they stopped, hopped out the Ink and completely pulverized the opposing Inkling. Asters eyes widened, he was amazed at the accuracy and power of the gun, or… was it the Inkling?

"Drez is currently racking 17 to- 18 To 0! It truly does seem like Drez is a unstoppable force for any Inkling dumb enough to take her head on or even dare to be stupid enough and get in her way!" the Inkling had started to cover ground now, allowing the camera to get a proper shot of their body but before they knew it she was back into the Ink and swimming away

"Drez is one Inkling who definitely deserves the title to participate in our upcoming Ranked Battle system and we are definitely looking forward to seeing the pain rain upon all of Drez's enemies. This has been a ZONE ALERT, coming from the top of Inkopolis Tower, until next time Turf War Fighters!" and then the monitor switched back to several live matches of current turf wars

"Wow… That guys a Pro! How has he not been featured on TW-TV?" Ruzi laughed after hearing Asters statement "huh? What's so funny?" Aster asked in a slightly concerned voice "Nothing, nothing, oh jeez... though it was nice meeting you two you should get going now, we have to get ready to lock up for tonight"

Kyounix felt his body drop "Really? Things were just getting fun to…" Ruzi's laugh started to fade from under her voice as she patted Kyounix on the head "Don't look so down, tomorrow you two should be able get everything you need and jump straight into a match!" it lifted up Kyounix a tiny bit but he was more distracted by Ruzi ruffling his hair

"But on a serious note," Ruzi stopped patting Kyounix's hair "Ammo Knights, Inkopolis Tower and everything else would be open longer if we weren't setting up for this "Event" that were having." Aster was interested "You're being quite… undescriptive? Is it like a secret or something?"

Ruzi shrugged her soldiers "I guess so, they didn't really give us a lot of details on it and most of the stuff I told you is info I got from snooping around" Ruzi put a sly smile on "But hey! I get to go home early so that's a score!" Kyounix and Aster just started at her, blandly, with no signs of caring and to possibly send her a message "Sooooo… I guess you all will just be left with the Inklings currently in a match?"

"Yup! Most of them were smart and timed when they should join to get the most out of their own time, others… just got lucky!" Kyounix let out a faint yawn, it stuck Ruzi and Aster as odd noise but the mildly disregarded "Well, I guess that's it for today then, thanks for helping us out Ruzi! It was fun!" Aster waved towards Ruzi as Kyounix sluggishly did the safe "What he said… not to sound lazy or anything" he was obviously sleepy

Ruzi started to snicker again "Alright, see you two later then! Crazy little squids…" she whispered out with a smile

The two inklings walked out of the tower then out of the small little hub of the city, not to many people were still hanging around so it was quite obvious where the exit was placed, they walked down the dimly lit streets and back allies as they started to make their way to a hotel, Aster was completely absent minded while they walked however he was actually following behind Kyounix…

It made him wonder if he knew where he was going to whole entire time…

"Splat Stars: The den of Turf war… so that's what this place is?" Aster read off the sign in front of the building Kyounix and himself stood in front of "Why would they devote a whole building just to turf war?" but as they walked into the building he instantly found out…

"Please! Just leave me ALONE! I told you we were over and that's IT!" a female inkling said running out the door, covering her eyes with her arm as the tears dripped off her arm "Wait! I'm… I'm…" the boy watched as she ran away, he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable anymore then she was right now "…No" but he also realized that he was letting love run away from him and never come back "Wait! Please!" and he also ran out after her

"Selling Zink's! Only 1500P each! Only 1500!" an Inkling boy sprang up "I'LL TAKE IT!" He grabbed the shoes and payed the sales squid kid "Nice, I was going to wait until shrimp kicks got the gold high hor-…"He observed the logo on the side sharply "wait… THESE ARE FAKES!" In a rage he looked back to where the other Inkling was but he was nowhere to be seen

"Help! Can someone please help! I can't find my backpack! Seriously guys! I have a FILLED suction bomb in there and if we can't find it were gonna have a problem! …And no questions about the suction bomb while we're at it…" everyone turned to him simultaneously and stopped talking, he sighed and face palmed "… what? If I was going to hurt anybody would I literally YELL it out loud?!" everybody turned back to their business completely ignoring the squids plea for help "Oh, COME ON!" he stormed out

The lobby of the building was filled to the brim with other Inklings. Not only just Inklings but Turf War fighting Inklings.

"Wow… that is a lot of Inklings" Kyounix smirked "Yup! The other place was like this to… but less packed. They would always talk about this "Turf War" things but it never really bothered me much but now I wish I knew! Come on!" Kyounix started to walk through the crowds and eventually came to a machine, Aster followed as he was told and stayed right behind him "Now just add about 900 coins…"

Kyounix pulled a couple of 100P coins and inserted them into the machine, a small ring confirmed the transaction and two cards were spit out of the machine with a nice little "Thank You", Kyounix handed Aster one of the cards, it had a star and splattershot on it "And boom! Now we got a place to sleep for the night… and only tonight…" Aster stared down at the card the machine dispensed the back at him

"So this is a Hotel? Weird…" Kyounix nodded "Yeah, it's different from most others and it's actually made for kids, like us! That's why they have a simple pay to stay system! It's also why they have chaperons come in along with some janitors to make sure the place doesn't burn down to the ground!" Kyounix's voice alarmed him, he sounded a BIT too happy when he said the words

"Hey guys! Who wants some soda?" ad Inkling from the crowd said as he burst through the doors, multiple Inklings said me left and right, then the inkling with the soda bottle started to rapidly shake it up and down, the meing stopped as the crowd started to turn into a complete panic of squids

"Kyounix. Run." Aster ran upstairs as Kyounix started to register the situation and not to long after scrambled upstairs behind his friend, Kyounix and Aster took a small breather before they continued onto the way to their rooms, With a terrified chuckle Kyounix said "That… to say the least".

Walking through the hall ways, multiple squids were hanging out, chatting, some even held hands as they walked down the hall way and stared out to the stars that formed above them on a small balcony "I got us the highest floor! Mostly because- … well I'm sure you know by now" Aster was semi loss of words, it was off setting for Kyounix's attitude but the he kept walking up the stairs and continued on with their 1 sided conversation all the way

"Yay! Were here!" Kyounix slid the card in the slot and the door popped open for him "Come on in!" Kyounix said as he held the door open "Thanks…" Aster walked in and looked around, he noticed a simple table, quite a decent size TV, a bathroom, medium size balcony, mini fridge and 2 beds, quite a nice and expensive looking living space "This is really nice, like… really nice!" Aster waited for a response but got nothing, he turned around to see the door shut "Um… did he?-?"

Aster walked back to the door only for it to nearly slam into his face "I'M BACK! With snacks!" the room grew quiet as Aster tried to recover from the sudden appearance of Kyounix "Huh? Are you ok, Aster?" Aster sighed and put his hand over his heart "Yup… just fine." He said shaking his head sarcastically

After everything had returned to normal the two sat on their separate beds scarfing down as much junk food Kyounix could carry, kelp chips along with kettle cooked coral crumbs littered the ink on black covered sheets "Kyounix… Thanks!" Aster said it in a awkward voice but he meant it as much as anything else he would say

Kyounix's eyes swung away from the television with a smile to aster "It's no Biggy! If we're gonna do this thing together then we gotta look out for each other, ya know?" Aster smiled over to Kyounix "Yeah!"

But that wasn't all that he wanted to ask, he had actually wanted to ask this a while ago but it kept building up more and more the longer he said nothing about it "Can I ask you something, Kyounix?" the Inkling nodded at him "Sure! What's up Aster?" Aster took a deep breath and looked back at his friends

"How did you know where this place was?!" Kyounix eyes shot open as he slowly drifted his gaze from Aster "I-… I um…" a long pause was had between the two as neither side said anything, Kyounix's voice changed

"I really have no Idea… I guess it was just luck… you know…?" Aster stared at his friend in worry and shock "You okay?, Kyounix?' "… huh? What? Of course I'm fine! Did I zone out again or something" Aster looked at him in worry but hid it away … that was… different… Aster though over in his head

Kyounix, now back in his normal mood stared back at the TV but Aster would only wonder in his mind Kyounix, Is there something… wrong?

As the food started to die out the two found themselves becoming quite sleepy, eyes flickered, and yawns were expelled from both of the Inklings "Kyounix, I think I'm heading in, okay?" Aster said as he got up with a stretch to throw his trash away, there was no reply

"Kyounix? You're out cold aren't you" as Aster turned around he noticed the mumbling sound he heard when Kyounix slept on the train "I guess that's his form of snoring…" for a second Aster swore he saw one of the domes on Kyounix's heads twitch slightly, he jumped back at the motion

"… Yeeeeeeeah, I need to go to sleep. Night, Kyounix" Turning off the lights Aster jumped into his own bed and pulled the covers on top of him, laying back snuggled in his warm sheets "Well… I made it mom…" his heart started to pound in emotions again, a smile grew on his face as he stared at the celling "If it wasn't for you- you and Kyounix… I don't know where I'd be right now…"

Aster closed his eyes, his words became slower as he slowly drifted off into sleep "Trust me though… cause I'm never… ever… gonna let you… all… down~" The dark room wisped with the sound of two sleeping inklings, resting as their bodies could barely hold the excitement for the next day, the next step in their journey.

Even through the remake chapter 4 is still the LONGEST chapter so far (If I'm correct)

That's about all I have to say... so...

Seeya guys next time!